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(And now, everybody's favourite style!...)

♋------------------------------------------------♋⊰Treehouse Tales 2!⊱Bamboozled!: The intervention of Tasha the Panda to save Gorgro from the clutches of the evil yet alluring Polynesian Waitress Thel!♋-----------------------------------------------♋

One day, Gorgro was in Belgium. Like most days, he was in Belgium. However, it was on this particular day that he decided that he was bored with Belgium. Despite the energetic vibes of Brussels' nightclub scene, the recent loss of FC Bruges to Anderlecht in the Jupiler Pro league playoff final had left it somewhat lacking.

Thus, he decided,with no consent from his estranged parents (who, being dinosaurs, were unfortunately rendered homeless after the second meteor strike that devastated the Benelux region in 2006)to take his life to the next level. This next level consisted of him getting on a plane to Las Vegas, where he hoped to win big at Caesar's. Such was his luck that he accumulated a sum of $2.4 million, as well as winning a variety of sports cars, penthouses, and trips to exotic Polynesian Islands. However, fate struck him a double-blow: His extreme fortune at Caesar's led to Casino Owners in Las Vegas (and Atlantic City - A.K.A. Worse Vegas) banning him from playing the slots (but not, incidentally, from appearing in variety talent shows). Equally, being too big to properly manipulate sports cars, and make use of the penthouse, he was forced to delegate those prizes to a local orphanarium (for which he was given the Dinosaur's Blue Ribbon of Selflessness by the Las Vegas Mayoral Committee). Nevertheless, he was able to profit from the exotic holiday in Samoa. In spite of the disappointment from his forced generosity to helpless children, he had profited from the sea air, the stressless beach-life, and several Long Island Ice Teas. However, his luck was to take a turn for the worse.

In the second week, he was greeted not by his normal waitress Mrs. Shà'mõé, but by a more intriguing character. The woman introduced herself as Thel Thelomina Tatyakova: a Russian expatriate who, after a brief stint in the KGB, had left for Polynesia to profess Communism (and basic Metal-craft) to the natives. Whilst their initial encounter had been as frosty as the Ice Tea which she brought him; for Gorgro was a staunch Capitalist, and was unreceptive to the Booby-lady’s advances, it was within only weeks that Gorgro - grievously unaware of his changing worldviews - had become entranced by the mysterious bebreastacled woman. Yet with effigies of the Red menaces Marx, Engels, Stalin, Mao and Elmo bedecking his hotel suite, he was in dire need of a saviour.

This Messiah was not long in showing up. In fact, she had been there the whole time: Tasha, who had only recently returned to Belgium after touring China with her Pop-Punk posse of Pinyin Pandas, had long been observing Gorgro’s movements in the news (fortunately, a globetrotting Belgian dinosaur beating the house at Vegas and going on holiday constituted headline news in the distinguished publication Het Laatste Nieuws). With a fastrack ticket to Samoa, Tasha had been covertly observing Gorgro from Day One (by means of hiding behind a newspaper with a moustache, glasses and peak cap - (Classic!)) However, it became apparent that she could not stand idly by whilst Gorgro fell ever deeper into the clutches of Communism, and Thel’s proprietary breast format. Thus, with great courage (and out of Gorgro’s sight), she confronted Thel. The evil dominatrix revealed that in making the World’s most powerful, esteemed, wealthy (and handsome!) dinosaur Communist, she would soon be on her way to bringing about a socialist revival, first in Polynesia, and then in her beloved Russia - and soon, she warned her, BELGIUM. Tasha, being as firm and cool-headed as she was, was having none of that, and challenged Thel to a duel. Lacking the appropriate firearms, they downgraded the duel to a round of Samoa’s most dangerous game: beer-darts. It was to Thel’s greatest misfortune that she wasn’t an Amazonian, for her large chest rendered her dart-throwing very inaccurate (even if it did prove a plus for convincing Samoan Kings that Communism would involve a lot more boobies than their native patriarchal monarchy).

In jubilation, Tasha, with her iron tongue, was able to convince Gorgro to return from the dark side and accompany her back to their beloved Belgium, where they united to create a somewhat profitable Calzone Parlour in an otherwise bland Antwerp. And everyone lived happily ever after. Except Thel. Thel is inferior to Tasha.------------------------------------------------------------"And don't you forget it!"-Tasha------------------------------------------------------------

Morton sighed. That silicone felt wrong when he installed it, but he thought it'd last longer than three days.

"It's like you don't even care about your work! Look at me! LOOK. AT. ME." Trashy reality show star #45,624 snarled at him, to which he had no ready reply. She was pinning him on every wrinkle and spot, not just the left breast blowout. She was getting old and ugly without his help, why should he be blamed for it?

When Morton got into the plastic surgery business, he expected something different. Yes, there was a new Corvette in his garage. Yes, he did have a beach house in Miami. But more than that, he expected fulfillment. Instead he just became Morton Harrisburg, the man who repaired the stars."Yes dear, we'll operate immediately."

That night, he sat outside. It'd been a while since he'd done that, usually all of his evenings were parties and networking. After all that time, Morton felt the need to see some real stars. With all stars, his personal troubles were insignificant. With these stars, everyone's personal troubles were insignificant. He was a speck on a speck near a bright speck. His thoughts tumbled, drifting away from his troubles, eventually remembering a med school friend who joined a program on the other side of the world. They had reconnected a couple years ago at a reunion, but hadn't talked since. Suddenly Morton realized that friend had been the last truly happy person he'd talked to. Maybe he'd track down that organization. There's plenty of cleft pallets in the third world.

Wrote another short story. This one had to include 3 random words, and I got lynx, South Africa, and silk.

An unexpected phone call at two in the morning can only be trouble. Francis knew this for a fact. No one calls just to say hi that late. In fact, no one's called to say hi for a long time. They just text or something, it is the 21st century after all. I mean, we have the globe in our pocket nowadays. What's that ringing sound again? Oh, right.

Groggily and just a touch angrily, Francis answered the phone. "Hel-"

"Francis! Thank god. Listen, I've been arrested." Oh god, it's Tim. Burnt down the doghouse at age 7 on accident, mistakenly picked up a prostitute at age 19, has done every drug on the market even though he only meant to do half of them, you know the type. Last Francis had heard, Tim was embarking on a venture investor capitalist around-the-world trip, whatever the hell that was.

"What's the bail this time."

"500,000 rand."

Francis sat straight up, sending the cat flying across the room. It landed in a ball of fur and claws and went tearing out of the room, snagging the carpet with every step. "What? What the hell did you do? Wait. RAND? Where are you, South Africa!?"

"Well, more specifically I'm in a jail in South Africa, but yes you get the idea."

Francis sat for a moment, absolutely dumbfounded. The phone fell away from his ear. The cat, still traumatized, poked its head back in the room, its big eyes fixated on the glowing box squawking at the human. It took two hesitant steps, then bolted again leaving fresh snags in the carpet as Francis raised the phone back up.

"-then the monkey grabbed the silk and started running with it, so of course I had to chase him. Around that time the locals got nervous or something and started shooting? Maybe they were having a celebration? Really all I know is that they were shooting at me! Or the monkey. One of us. Then-"

"Tim. you're in jail in South Africa." Francis covered his face with his hand and slumped over a little. Breathe in though the nose, out through the mouth. Don't yell, it'll only scare the cat some more. "Jail. South Africa. Why."

"Well I was just telling you, it started with us running out of money whe-"

HEY IT's DONE, SORRY I LIED A WEEK OR A SO AGO.DEAD MARE'S WAR IS DONE!

Spoiler:

A Dead Mare’s War

Ponyville was in utter disarray after the Cyberpegasi descended, Purged, and finally retreated. Only a handful of ponies knew what had happened to send them away, and they had unanimously never to speak of it or of the Fleshqueen to the rest of the town. Most of those 7 ponies were left fairly scarred by the experience, some physically so. Pinkie had locked herself in her room for a few days, trying to cope with the idea that such a pony somehow was closely related to her. Rarity, while shaken by the violence of the ordeal and her own kidnapping, did her best to live life as she normally did, but was noticeably more prone to leaping into the air and/or fainting at sudden events. Rainbow Dash was in the hospital recovering from her tussles with the Cyberponies and the Fleshqueen (her favorite one was also the one that cracked her skull and a few ribs, bashing the Cyberunicorn that had lead the soldiers and had on several occasions held her in the air) and some wounded pride from being outmaneuvered and tossed about by some stupid Earth pony wearing a cloak. Twilight had nightmares of Stone Cold’s death for weeks. Fluttershy was the most physically wrecked by the adventure, broken bones, internal hemorrhaging, and, of course, a severely damaged pectoral muscle from being beaten in the chest with a bundle of steel cables. She shared a room with Dash during recovery. Applejack, being the strong pony she is, was barely mentally scarred, and she was smart enough to know that she didn’t have a chance in any of the fights that were happening, so she kept out of them and wasn’t harmed.

****

Vinyl Scratch sat back in her chair, taking a long drink from her bottle of spirits. She took a glance over to the bar of her nightclub and saw at least 4 ponies snorting some coke. It was hard to tell just how many there were with smoke clouding her vision, it’s source being a very, very stoned pony laying on the floor a few feet away, a joint hanging in his mouth. Vinyl, peeved by the smoke, leaned over and poured the rest of her drink on the stoner’s face. “Beat it,” she said sternly. The stoner looked up at her in confusion, then slowly got up and shambled away. Strobes would light up the room for her to allow her to see her guests’ activities for brief moments, like a bad stop motion movie. Somewhere in the wall of the flesh that was in the dance floor, a mare cried out in pain. This pony forced her way out of the crowd, clutching her chest. Even from her distance, it was clear that she had a few syringes sticking out of her arms. She stumbled about, then clasped on the floor, still clutching her breast. She must had been ODing on some stimulant. She was probably going to die from heart attack if somebody didn’t get some help for her. But nobody would. Definitely not Vinyl. With all of the drugs here, she would be put out of business and in cuffs. She turned her attention away from the soon-to-be-dead pony and looked to the far west corner of the club, where a group of mares were getting very, very intimate. Vinyl got up to ask if she could join the party, but her attention was drawn by a grey, cloaked mare flashing a bag of white powder at her. Vinyl smiled. It was always nice to have an extra “omph” to add to any kind of party. She approached the mare.“Got something for me, honey?” she said with a smirk.“Ja. Something very nice for you, Vinyl. I would like to discuss payment backstage,” the mare said.The two slinked backstage, where a buffet of drug cocktails, drops, tabs, hugs, the whole deal, awaited her.Vinyl swore. There must had been millions of bits worth of contraband on this table. There was no way she could afford this.Wait...... a bullet could pay for this. It’s not the only time that she’s snagged something for that low price. All of these drugs, for the price of a half-a-bit bullet and a life, which has little value anyways. She could make so much money with this. She could skip out of this Skid Row of a town, move somewhere nice, somewhere with more business, somewhere will more lenient cops, cheaper drugs, all of that.“One moment, I’ll get some cash from my vault here,” Vinyl said while heading to a panel on her backstage wall. Her weapon storage, filled to the brim with weapons large and small, some local, some exotic, some terrestrial... some not.“Not necessary. I don’t want money. I want a favor. I want you to do a hit for me,” the mare said while stepping closer.“Sure, I can shoot someone for yah,” Vinyl said, not really listening. She suddenly felt a cold blade against her neck.“Step away from your little armory. I already know how many dealers you’ve put into the ground, and you won’t like how this ends if you go for that Glock of yours. I just want to strike a deal, my friend. Now, turn around, I have the contract here,” the mare said.Vinyl cautiously turned, only to find that the mare was suddenly back at the table. She held a piece of paper in her hand with a picture of a light brown stallion with a strangely spiky mane, a blue bowtie, a blue suit, and an hourglass cutiemark.“Just sign here on this line, and I will be legally inclined to give you 3 million bits in quote unquote “merchandise” if you do the job of bringing him quote unquote “home,” but I may evoke the deal if I feel you had abused the terms, so you have to make him take a dirtnap. Deal?” the mare said, holding up the contract.Vinyl smiled to herself. Simple tradeoff. Still only going to cost half a bit to get 3 mill. She smiled and signed. “Hey, may I ask a favor? I may be suffering a bit of deficiency of vitamin... what is it... K?”The mare smiled and tossed Vinyl a syringe. “Enjoy kland, my friend. Hope the ride there isn’t too bumpy, or you might meet God.”Vinyl laughed and stuck the needle in her foreleg. NOW tonight was going to be fun!

****

“Hello Doctor. I am quite, quite honored to be in your presence. And I can not thank you enough for saving us from the Cyberponies,” the Scribe said, struggling to keep her composure. She was a red pegasus who, as well as the two other ponies with her, had an hourglass for her cutiemark. Unlike the Doctor, they didn’t have clothes on. They had been ponies long enough to get used to the feel of total nakedness. The Doctor had only been around here for a comparatively short time, so he still felt the urge to wear his blue suit and bowtie. The other pony, a unicorn, had a striped light and dark blue mane and a light blue coat and, or course, an hourglass cutiemark.“Nice to meet you, Scribe,” the Doctor replied. He was as excited about this meeting as she was. More so even. He hadn’t seen another Time Lord for many, many years.“Please, call me Redwing.”“Beg pardon?”“Redwing. We need normal names to live like normal folk. A name like the Scribe is very odd to most ponies and they get might get suspicious.”“Why would you want to live like normal folk?” The Doctor was dumbfounded. Why in the world would someone who had access to all of the universe want to stay in one place? After years of running, settling down didn’t make sense.“Well, unlike you and the Investigator, I was rather shaken by my visit from my Angel. I don’t go in my TARDIS often to travel. He’s still my home, but he’s not my ship anymore, you know what I mean? I wasn’t used to travel anyways, and after that horrid experience and the shock of suddenly being a pony, it kept me from exploring this new world. It’s peaceful here, and there are many freinds to be had anyways, so I haven't had much incentive to go anywhere.”“Colgate, do you travel?” the Doctor turned his attention to the light blue unicorn.“I used to a lot, but after I got my job, I just do it during the weekend and vacations. It’s nice to help people without endangering myself sometimes. The Investigator though, he’s very much into it... and out of it, if you know what I mean. He’s only here when he either has to sleep or gets wounded. In fact, he’s already jumping off to some other adventure right now, despite the whole Cyberpony deal. I just don’t understand him...”

****

The Investigator chuckled. Another day, another world. He opened his TARDIS, whose Chameleon Circuit had made assume the form of an oak, ready to leave this time and leave for a much more interesting planet. As he began to step in, a loud boom filled the air as something dived down through the air and an equally loud crack followed as a ton of metal beared down on his back. He flew into his TARDIS, unable to move his legs. A set of clicks came from behind him, and as a blade drove deep into his side, he began to ponder what death would be like.I guess I’ll have one more adventure then, huh? he thought just before that blade cleaved through his neck.

****

Colgate visibly shivered. She felt as if some part of her had died.“Did you guys feel that?” The two stared at her, then at each other.“Feel what?” Redwing asked.“A chill maybe?”“Yeah... I did.”“Is there any significance to this?” the Doctor asked, dismissing it as a reaction to a breeze.“Yeah, actually. We don’t get cold easily, but both me and her felt it. The last time we both got a chill at the exact same moment, one of the Time Lords died.”The Doctor rolled his eyes. Superstitions from this primitive land must be getting to them, they’ve gone local enough. Then he realized that over half of the superstitions actually were true in this world of magic, and this had him worried. Pinkie would get the shivers if something big were to happen, something mind-bogglingly incredible. The idea of a Time Lord dying was very incredible indeed. He would have to had died quickly to not regenerate.

****

Dash’s eyes were locked on the newspaper article. She had her bed curtain drawn to block out the sight of Fluttershy’s pained sleep. The poor girl tossed, turned, whimpered, and occasionally cried out. Sometimes she can hear Fluttershy mutter something in her sleep, sometimes apologetic, sometimes spiteful, and most frequently begging for the pain to go. Dash couldn’t stand it, it hurt her to see her friend like this, but not being able to comfort Fluttershy, she tried to lose herself in reading, which had failed until just now. Dash wasn’t entirely sure what to feel about what she had just read. It took a few minutes for her to process it, and then she lost her concentration and felt Fluttershy’s misery again. She felt her own wounded pride, her injuries, Rarity’s panic, Pinkie’s betrayal, all of it. She threw the paper in the trash, waiting impatiently for 3:00 o’clock, the time she was to be released from the hospital.“I’m coming for you, Earthfodder. The ground will have you soon.”Vinyl Scratch Has a New Business Partner

****

Pinkie felt it. She shook uncontrollably. Something big was happening. Something unbelievable, something... horrible. Horrible beyond belief. Someone was about to get their hands on something they shouldn’t, something powerful. And she knew where it would happen.It took her a little to summon up the courage to go there. She decided that she shouldn’t bring anyone along, it might be dangerous for them.She dashed quickly through the Everfree, her instinct guiding her to the site. She had to stop a few times to allow the muscle convulsions that her Pinkiesence gave her. She hear the sound of a TARDIS leaving, and she picked up the pace.She screamed and fell back upon seeing what that TARIS had left behind, a headless body. She stared at it for a moment, then dashed back into town. Showing her complete lack of proper judgement due to panic, the first person she ran to for help was Rarity. When Pinkie bust through the door, she wasn’t even able, thankfully, to tell Rarity what she saw, as Rarity had fainted at the sound of the door slamming open.

****

Vinyl was enjoying a bottle of spirits while assuming her usual position overwatching the club. The gray mare, who had introduced herself as Ashcoat, was similarly sitting at the bar, but remaining sober. She looked up at the clock. 3:20 pm. She opted that she should try and be sober as well, it was early to drink oneself stupid.Ashcoat suddenly stood up and made her way to one of the exits. Instead of walking through the doors, she jumped up into the air and perched herself on the red exit sign. As if on cue, Dash opened the door. Eeyup, Vinyl should definitely stay sober. She looked around in a panic, this mare was going to bust her, there was no hiding the drugs this time.Dash made her way to Vinyl while Ashcoat silently followed her.“Hey, Vinyl, I have deal for you. I’ve heard about your new business partner,” Dash said to Vinyl. Ashcoat up until the words “new business partner” was about to wrap her forearms around Dash’s neck, but upon hearing that, she froze in place, then relaxed back onto her haunches, throwing a look of disapproval at Vinyl. “I’ve met this nut before, and I have a score to settle. My last encounter with her involved her trying to kill me, my friends, and kidnap the whole town. Take me to her, and I won’t tell the cops about the drugs and I won’t beat your face in.” Dash pushed Vinyl onto the bar and held her down with both of her forelegs. “Tick tock, I have only so much patience.” Ashcoat crossed her forelegs smugly. This was punishment enough for someone with a loose lip. “Ten seconds.” Vinyl looked wildly around for some support, but everyone was either apathetic or not sober enough to even notice. “Five seconds.”Vinyl’s time to answer ran out, and Dash pulled back a foreleg to in order deliver a strong blow to Vinyl’s jaw. Before she could bring her hoof down, Ashcoat wrapped her forelegs around Dash’s neck and, with a heave, threw Dash over her head. She flew through the air and landed face-first on a chair. She attempted to get up, but a blow to the back of the head threw her back down on the chair, where the force of her body broke it. She was too dazed to get up or resist being dragged over to a wall and be leaned up against it. After her blurred vision cleared up enough to tell who was standing over her, she threw a hateful glare.“You really bucked things up, you know that right?” Dash said with a slur to her voice. “I... was in the hospital until today, Fluttershy will still be for a few days... you should hear her at night... you and your goons, they really, really hurt...” Dash slipped into unconsciousness.“You’re a moron, Vinyl. First of all, I’m not your business partner. Second, you shouldn’t had mentioned that I had anything to do with you, especially to the newspaper. I’m a drug dealer, you need to keep as much attention away from me as possible, got it?” Ashcoat said to Vinyl.“I think you’re a little more than that, my friend. What is this ‘kidnap most of the town’ deal? I’d like to know, or you ain’t getting a body like you want,” Vinyl said, crossing her forelegs.“I don’t have to answer that, and if you really want to revoke the deal, how about you read Section 3, Paragraph 1 of our contract here?” She produced the piece of paper from under her cloak.Vinyl read quickly, then stood stupefied as she read the third sentence.“I don’t believe it. I’m bucked, ain’t I?”“Yeah, you are, as you put it so crudely. As we say it down at the south border, you’ve got my claw at your throat. You can avoid that though, if you keep the job.”“Alright, but I’m not killing anyone extra unless you tell me what’s up.”“I can live with that. And plus, if I want you to, I can make you anyways.”“Let’s please not kill Dash, alright? She’ll be missed, and there are plenty of ponies who will look for her if she disappeared. If any of them find out she died here, I might get lynched, if the police don’t have me first.”Ashcoat rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll allow it this time. If she comes back, she WILL die.”

****

The Time Lords continued to talk as they did before, but the unnatural chill hung in the air like a bad smell.“So, Doctor, what’s Gallifrey like now? I mean, before you left. I will say that I’ve missed the place, as nice as this planet is,” Redwing said, letting her eyes drift into the sky as she imagined her beautiful homeworld.The Doctor was hesitant. “It was... destroyed. There was a war with the Daleks. I... was one of the only survivors.”Colgate and Redwing were shocked. “But, there’s no way the Daleks could ever defeat the Time Lords. You alone have taken down armies of them without using weapons. How could the fully armed Time Lord armada be beaten by the Daleks?” Colgate said, a tear forming on her cheek.“They did,” the Doctor said while looking away, he was having great difficulty looking into either of their eyes while saying this.“Doctor, if the Time Lords fell in battle, then why are you still here?” Redwing asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.“Redwing, please don’t. Let us count our blessings. At least not all of the Time Lords died in our home universe, we might see the other survivors sometime. We can ask about the details later, this... is a lot to take in at once,” Colgate said, holding back tears.“Alright, for your sake, dear,” Redwing said, still glaring at the Doctor. It didn’t take words to confirm that the meeting had ended. There was little reason to talk now. Redwing accompanied Colgate on the way back to town, and the Doctor was left alone.

****

Ashcoat threw Dash to the curve. She knew Dash will be back at her sometime, but she needed something to balance out a bit of the suspicion Vinyl has for her. It will take a lot to get Vinyl to trust Ashcoat, but it would be best if Vinyl worked with her willingly, she’d be more compliant. She didn’t really care that people would see Dash, they’d most likely see her as having been passed out from drinking, and a mostly empty bottle placed next to her and a little bit of it’s content dabbed on her lips would help convince them of this, maybe even Dash herself.As she made her way back towards the alley that the back door for the club was, she felt something, something strong. It was like earlier, but less dire, almost friendly even, but still dark and violent. She closed her eyes and listened. She heard a call for her that no one else could possibly hear. She smiled. She was the only pony who has ever heard the angels sing. They called to her, beckoning her for the feast, for fellowship, for power, for truth, for the hunt.For the Purge.

****

Fluttershy woke up. Her injuries were not hurting as much as they did before. She flexed her foreleg and moved it towards her to test how much she had recovered. She didn’t know how long she’s been in the hospital, so she had no scale to judge the rapidness of her recovery. It flexed fine, and her pectorals’ pain from contracting was barely noticeable. I must have been here a long time. That foreleg was broken when I was checked in, Fluttershy thought. She pulled back her curtain to check on Dash. Much to her initial surprize, Dash was gone and there was a nurse sitting in a chair next to the door who was rather startled by the fact Fluttershy had moved. Fluttershy thought for a second and figured that Dash wouldn’t be there anyways, it take quite a bit of time for a bone to mend itself.“Hello,” Fluttershy said to the nurse.“Are you feeling ok Fluttershy?” the nurse said, the slightest amount of awe lingering in her voice.“I think so. How long have I been here?”“About 4 days.”Fluttershy shot up. That couldn’t be. “Are you sure?”“Very. Everyone was amazed at your recovery. We didn’t even do much with you, even though you were mostly unresponsive to us verbally, you physically rejected most treatments. None of our sedatives or narcotics kept you from resisting, so it wasn’t safe to work with you. You did allow us to hook you on an IV of fluids and nutrients on you though.”“I don’t remember that...” Fluttershy said. “Can I try getting up?”“You should be able to now.”Fluttershy cautiously took a step off the bed. She stood erect and put her forelegs on the bed for support. Finding she didn’t need it, she delicately put her forehooves on the floor. After a few awkward steps she began to walk with more confidence. She soon got back in the swing of walking and opted to grab a book before sitting down again.“What about Dash? Is she already checked out?”“Yes, she checked out about an hour ago. Looked as mad as a bull though, I had some doubts about letting her leave without an escort.”Fluttershy pondered this. “Did she say why she was upset?” she asked as she approached Dash’s bed.“No, but she was eager to leave. I’ve seen the look in her eye before, she was out for blood, I swear.” Fluttershy found a newspaper in the paper-waste bin next to the bed. She unfurled it and read the page.“Who would she go af-” she said before gasping. “What’s wrong?”“... I thought she was dead...”“What was that?”“... Can I check out yet?”“I don’t see why not. The doctor looked you over this afternoon and said that you fully recovered. Still had night terrors through the day though. It really scared your friend.”“I should probably go find her. How long will it take to check me out?”“We’ve already cleared you for leave, so you just need to sign out. Keep in mind we want you back tomorrow so we can do a psychoanalysis at noon. Whatever hospitalized you put you through massive trauma. We want to make sure you’ll be fine, but your friends have been very eager see you and we might as well give you a short leave.”“Thank you. What’s your name, by the way?”“I’m Greenline.”“I hope I get to see you more, miss Greenline.” Fluttershy said before leaving. As she made her way to the lobby, she found it odd that she was called Greenline when her coat was white and her mane was blue. Greenline leaned back in her chair. She smiled to herself.“יכול לתת לי טופס מקלט,” she murmured.

****

The poor stallion cried. Nowhere to run. They had cornered him. The old dark warehouse was filled with the clattering of their movement, their growls. They chittered amongst themselves, fighting over who will have him. It would be their first meal since entering Ponyville.A cloaked figure entered the warehouse. The stallion wasn’t sure if he should call for help or to tell the pony to run.His blood froze as the mare called out. “Brothers, sisters,” and added reverently, “and my dear Israphel, I’m here.” They chittered, they had made an agreement. She listened closely. The stallion wasn’t sure if this would be a good time to run. He was about to scramble to his feet, but the mare was suddenly out of his sight. He shivered, and knew that she was behind him.

****

Vinyl did not know how time was twisting around her at that moment. She was just writing a letter to her parents. It’s been awhile since she’s said anything to them. She felt compelled to write to them, but she wasn’t sure what her logic was for it. Was it to get advice on how to handle the situation? She had no clue, but she really wanted to tell her Dad about the grey mare. She never would had guessed what higher forces were at work. A time-logic knott was about to resolve. This fixed point in time is the beginning and the end of two people’s time with the cloaked mare, and the world will one day hang in the balance of this.

****

Pinkie fidgeted. It wasn’t like anything she had felt before. Perhaps in distance, but never this close and real. It felt like the world was about to fold. Considering the events of the last week, she knew nothing good could come of this.“But what does it mean?” Pinkie asked, presumably to no one. Of course it wasn’t to no one, Pinkie almost never did something without reason. She may had been seen as a scatterbrain, but there was order in the madness. She listened intently and closed her eyes.“I guess that makes sense. Should I do anything to take care of it?” She once again listened. She suddenly felt a presence in the room. To Gummy, what Pinkie did next was turn around and salute a wall. She subsequently went at ease, leaning back in her seat and putting her elbows on the table behind her. She listened intently for a bit, then raised an eyebrow.“You’ve never had a reason to doubt my capabilities before, why now?” she said, leaning forward and crossing her arms with narrowed eyes. She listened and slowly began to tense. Suddenly she fell almost limp with a mask of shock.“... I understand. I won’t get involved. I wouldn’t if my friends’ life depended on it. Ok, maybe then, but you have my word. For now, at least.”

****

The stallion franticly lashed out and kicked the mare square in the jaw. He charged forward, not paying attention to the mare’s muffled cry and the outraged roar from above. He must had knocked it out of place. He was a meter from the door before he heard a crack from her punching it back into place. She swore in German as she charged after him. She was much swifter, so she quickly was close enough to grab him by the tail. He was effortlessly thrown into the air and landed next to her. She grabbed him by the mane and brought her elbow down on his forehead and took a few more swung. His vision swam as she continued to cuss him out in German. A moment of clarity on her end came as his did, and she remembered what she was to do. He, despite himself, was whimpering.“Poor you, you must be terrified. Don’t worry, I can end it. You only have to do one thing, and you really don’t have a choice,” she said, a sweet smile on her lips. She propped his head up with her hoof so he looked straight at her hood. “Hush, hush, and look into my eyes.”

****

Fluttershy proceed with quite a bit of caution. She may had been a coward for much of her life, but that didn’t mean she didn’t know a potential trap when she saw one. When you’re always paranoid, you get very good at seeing actual traps when you see the slight potential for a trap at every corner. The way Dash was on the ground, she was easily knocked out. She had a bottle in hand, but Fluttershy knew that this could easily be a trap. From this distance, she couldn’t even see if Dash is breathing.Fluttershy crept closer while looking each direction. She was about 10 meters away before she shifted her weight to her haunches. She stretched her wings and darted forward. She held her breath after getting to Dash and listened. Dash was still breathing at a normal rate. But there was something off...She quickly wrapped her arms around Dash’s chest and struggled into the air. She landed rather shakingly on a roof and carefully laid dash down. She sat down and took a breather.Vinyl watched while Fluttershy made her way. She had a dagger one in hoof and a bottle in the other. She stayed as still as possible so Fluttershy would just take Dash away from her curb. She had the knife incase Dash got up and decided to try to get in again. She knew that Fluttershy would had seen seen her and probably noticed the knife, which would explain her haste. Vinyl shrugged at Fluttershy’s near panic and knew there was no reason to stay outside any longer. Vinyl stepped back into the bar, and said to herself “Why do I feel like this just started a war?”

****

The stallion started straight into the mare’s eyes. His body was stone and his mind was being rent to pieces by the stare. She reached into his mind and groped as he saw the many visions of horror in her’s. Her cockitrease eyes made him surrender control.“Goodbye, Mr. Scratch.” He felt himself being thrown back into nothing, but before the world fell to pieces before his eyes, he saw the mare in her glory. Her devil’s smile, her hungry hunter’s eyes, and the golden wings of an Angel.